Estorick Collection reopens in
January with new exhibition
War in the Sunshine:
The British in Italy 1917-1918
13 January – 19 March 2017
Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, London
www.estorickcollection.com @Estorick
Following its five-month refurbishment, London’s Estorick Collection reopens in January
2017 with War in the Sunshine, a new exhibition of 75 rarely shown artworks revealing
the little-known role of British forces in Italy during the First World War. On special loan
from the Imperial War Museum, they include 24 drawings, paintings by official war artist
Sydney Carline, and some 50 images by war photographers W.J. Brunell and Ernest
Brooks. War in the Sunshine runs from 13 January until 19 March 2017.
Highlighting this forgotten aspect of Britain’s First World War, the exhibition showcases
the enthralling drawings and paintings of Sydney Carline (1888-1929), first produced in his
own time as a fighter pilot flying a Sopwith Camel in northern Italian skies, and then as an
official war artist attached to the RAF.
Ernest Brooks (1878-1941), an official photographer on the Western Front, is best known
for his iconic images of British forces on the Somme and at Passchendaele. The less wellknown photographs he took during his official assignment to Italy in 1917-1918 sensitively
portray the plight of front-line combat troops and dispossessed Italian civilians scratching
a living behind the Anglo-Italian lines.
The photographs taken by William Joseph Brunell (1878-1960) reveal an instinctive feel for
the stunning views of northern Italy’s mountainous terrain and of ruins dotting the bleak
front line along the River Piave north of Venice. He also produced intimate and
sympathetic images of many of the young Italian women employed by the British Army
Service Corps, unloading railway wagons of supplies, washing British Army uniforms and
preparing meals.
War in the Sunshine is curated by Dr Jonathan Black, an expert in British Art and the First
World War. He is Senior Research Fellow in History of Art, Kingston University, London.
The exhibition is accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalogue with essays on Sydney
Carline’s First World War by Jonathan Black and exploring Italy’s experience of the First
World War by historian Mark Thompson (author of The White War: Life and Death on the
Italian Front, 1915-1919, published in 2009).
Also included in the exhibition is a series of works by London-based contemporary artist
Keith Roberts, who is responding to the themes and concerns of the show.
The exhibition is supported by Kingston University, London and the Paul Mellon Centre.
Note to Editors
It has been all but forgotten that in the aftermath of the Italian defeat at Caporetto in
October-November 1917, Britain despatched an Expeditionary Force of nearly 120,000
men to help stop advancing German and Austro-Hungarian forces. By the summer of 1918
British troop levels had fallen to just over 70,000 but these were to play a significant part
in Italian victories in the Battle of the Solstice (June 1918) and on the Piave in the Vittorio
Vento campaign (October-November 1918). Five squadrons of the RAF and 40 batteries of
heavy artillery played key roles in both victories.
About the Estorick Collection
The Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art is internationally renowned for its core of
Futurist works. It comprises some 120 paintings, drawings, watercolours, prints and
sculptures by many of the most prominent Italian artists of the Modernist era. There
are six galleries, two of which are used for temporary exhibitions. Since opening in
1998, the Estorick has established a reputation and gained critical acclaim as a key
venue for bringing Italian art to the British public.
Listings information
Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art, 39a Canonbury Square, London N1 2AN
T: +44 (0)20 7704 9522
www.estorickcollection.com Twitter: @Estorick
Opening Hours
Wednesdays – Saturdays 11.00-18.00, Sundays 12.00-17.00, closed Mondays &
Tuesdays
Admission: £6.50, Concs £4.50. Includes entry to exhibition and permanent collection.
Transport: Victoria Line, Overground and First Capital Connect to Highbury & Islington.
For further press information, please contact
Alison Wright, Press Consultant for the Estorick Collection
[email protected] or call 01608 646 175 or 07814 796 930